The Prince and the Peasant
by Calenhisiel Greenleaf
Summary: Just your basic Cinderella story and half the story of my life (the other half doesnt have a happy ending.) working on part 2
1. My Prince

At the time, Mirkwood was the kingdom that greatly flourished. Thranduil ruled over the kingdom, and Legolas Greenleaf watched his people.  
  
Legolas was from the stuff dreams were made of. He was the prince, as previously stated, and his Elvin charm gave him twice the glory. It was time now for him to be looking for a bride, but for some reason, none of the women seemed as appealing to him as he expected. He felt that they wanted him for the political powers or just to be seen, but he really wanted someone with whom he could have a heart to heart- someone who saw him for his kindness instead of his position. That's when he finally noticed Rieana.  
  
Rieana was just a simple peasant Elf, whose status was that equal to homeless. She worked in the palace of Mirkwood and made sure that the prince was pleased. She always remembered his day of birth (yes, all 2931 of them) and of all the servants, she always got the job done, and yet, she asked for nothing in return. The smile on the prince's face was all she could ask for.  
  
In the city of Mirkwood, there was a tradition for the Elvin prince/princess to get married. A brooch, shaped like an emerald green leaf (symbolizing the family name) has to be passed down to the bride or groom. If the brooch stayed green, that meant that there was and is a chance for things to happen. If the brooch turned gray, they were not meant to be together. If the brooch glowed, that was an instant sign that they were meant to be.  
  
Rieana didn't know of the magical brooch, but she did grow very fond of the Elf. She knew that, eventually, he would need to be wed to a maiden. Every day, in her field that she liked to call a garden, her imagination grew stronger about his love belonging to her, but as the end of the day approached, doubt began to fill her mind, and it grew stronger by the day. In her heart, she knew she didn't have a fighting chance.  
  
Legolas grew anxious, he knew that the time to wed would be soon, but with all the ladies in Mirkwood groveling before him, he had no idea of what to do. One day, he grew so upset that he threw the brooch as far as the trees would allow him to see, and it happened to land in Rieana's garden while she was daydreaming.  
  
Days later, Thranduil was furious. "How can you lose the green leaf brooch? It has been in the family for generations!"  
  
"I saw no more need for it," he said with confidence in his voice. "I choose not to marry."  
  
"Why not? Without a proper wife, you will not be able to produce an heir to the Greenleaf name."  
  
"If it were that simple, I would have been married for years, and my child would me forced to produce an heir, but its not. I see no woman in this kingdom fit to be a bride."  
  
"How can you be certain?"  
  
"Look around you, father. Many women want to live with me, but they don't know enough about me to hold in a Silmaril. They probably cared more about their status than about me."  
  
Thranduil sighed. "I see there is nothing I can do." He walked toward the exit of the room as he said, "I will see that my brooch is found."  
  
He ordered all of his servants to search for the item, but there was no luck. None of the servants knew the first place to look. In fact, they had looked so long, that they forgot what the brooch looked like. Rieana wondered about what she had found days before. "Maybe this is what the prince looks for," she thought. She held it up to her face as the green emerald shined. "Though, it's too beautiful to let go…" 


	2. Was It A Mistake?

That night, Rieana decided not to go to sleep. Instead, she went to Legolas's room in the middle of the night. His sleep was somewhat uneasy. "I wonder what he could be dreaming about," she thought. She toughed his hand, but he grew even more squeamish. She put the brooch in his right hand, and sat on the bed next to him. But as she slowly touched his hand, Legolas shot up, seized her hand, and cut the girl's left arm with the tip of the brooch. Both of them were startled. Rieana slowly backed away, her face filled with fear. Her right hand was holding her cut, which was dripping with blood. Legolas got out of the bed to try to help her, but with each step he took forward, she took two steps back until she reached the door. She left the room with tears running down her face and no looking back. Legolas moved no further. He held up the brooch, which had some blood on it. When most of the blood had dripped to the floor, he saw that it was shining green before it went back to normal.  
  
Rieana was devastated. She felt everything she knew about her 'beloved' elf fly through the trees of Mirkwood. This was the first time she had neglected duties to tend to her wound, but it was no use; the blood still ran down her arm. Every hour, she had to tie a new rag around it, and from this, eventually, she was weakened. Thranduil allowed her to rest, since she was his best servant. She was too afraid to even look at the Elvin prince the same way.  
  
There was one day when she couldn't get up to eat. In fact, every time she tried to move, her head would spin. She did see the sheets of her bed, which was heavily stained with blood.  
  
Legolas was worried. For a while, he didn't see Rieana, and that began to bother him. He grabbed some medicine and dipped the brooch in it. Then he cut his finger and added some of his own blood into the mixture. Then he headed to the girl's room.  
  
Rieana was clad in sky blue at the edge of the cliff. She held her head towards the sky, and then fell forward. As her feet left the edge of the cliff…  
  
She sprang up in her bed, but she didn't have the energy or the strength to scream. Everything went blurry again, and she fell back to sleep. She didn't notice Legolas standing at her door. He walked to her wound. Then he poured some of the medicine on it, and it healed as if nothing had happened to her. Then she began to speak to herself in elvish.  
  
"I guess I was wrong. I see there is no chance for me," she started.  
  
Legolas knew what she spoke of. Though she was asleep, he replied: "It's not too late for you. There is still hope."  
  
Her body turned in the bed. "I still see no sign of hope. The one I loved showed no signs of affection, and he has hurt me. Why?"  
  
"My dear, that was nothing against you." Legolas held Rieana's hand. "He is very fond of you."  
  
Rieana looked around towards her wound to see that it had mended. "What has happened?"  
  
"Your blood and his was used to mend the wound. It is healed. Now he is a part of you." Legolas touched her face, and felt her body grow warm.  
  
"I…an healed?"  
  
"Yes. He cared that much to come and help."  
  
"What will happen to me now?"  
  
"You will see." Legolas's face edged towards hers and he laid a kiss on her lips. When she woke up, she found her wound healed and the brooch growing between shimmering green and aqua. 


End file.
